Loyal Loot
December 6, 2016
Way back in 2004, a group of Industrial Design students, Carmen Douville, Dara Humniski, Doha Lindskoog, and Anna Thomas formed Loyal Loot. Twelve years later, Loyal Loot has exhibited their line of furniture and housewares including their famous Log Bowl, all over the world. Doha Lindskoog and Anna Thomas are now the primary partners, running Loyal Loot from their studios in Calgary and Edmonton.
Loyal Loot’s work and process clearly points toward an ultimate goal of timelessness and quality. Concepts can take three to four years to perfect, and the products on their website are often made to order. Their iconic Log Bowl is made from locally sourced and naturally felled trees that need to be dried for eight months. Luckily, there’s no lead time if you come to see Loyal Loot at Market Collective from December 9-11! They will be fully stocked, and ready for you to purchase their work.
Loyal Loot has been around for over ten years! How has your process changed now from when you first started?
We are much more organized now. Our process has gotten more efficient and our final product has a more finished look. That said, because of the handmade and small batch nature of our product, the variation from piece to piece endures.
What were some of the biggest challenges to overcome when starting out?
Being prepared. We were pretty green when we started out! We would go to these big exhibitions and show our work, with homemade catalogues and business cards, no pricing information or lead times. We didn’t expect that people would be interested in ordering as enthusiastically as they were - but we figured it all out as we went along. We were always scrambling for product shots for magazines that were of a good enough quality. Eventually shooting our work became an early step we really learned everything by doing.
All four founders met while studying in the University of Alberta’s Industrial Design program. What was the most valuable lesson you learned while still a student?
It’s not worth it to take a program and do work just to please your professors and get a top grade. Of course, it’s very important to get as much as possible out of the program, in terms of information from professors, guidance and expertise from the wood shop technicians, mentoring from Masters students. That said, staying fearless, authentic and experimental during this time is crucial to finding your own voice.
You’ve said that you want your products to endure. Why is timelessness so important and how do you achieve timeless design?
Timelessness is important because it means an object has lasting power. It will always belong in a space because it’s not based on current trends. A timeless object can sit comfortably next to an eclectic array of items and fit right in. We attempt to achieve timeless design by coming from a perspective that is not based on trend.
What does creativity mean to you?
To us, creativity is playing, experimenting, asking ourselves ‘what if’ or ‘why not’, daydreaming and taking our time.
Where can people find more about Loyal Loot?
Visit our website www.loyalloot.com!